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With Christmas just round the corner, the gut health experts from ProVen Biotics are here with some top tips to keep your gut happy over the festive period.

Christmas is coming and so are the stories and anxiety around over-eating, over-drinking and feeling the after-effects. Even the healthiest of us can over-indulge during the festive season, at office parties, family dinners and celebrations with friends – all of which can impact your gut health, meaning you may experience digestive upset as a result.

The impact on our gut health varies from person to person, from mild bloating to severe IBS-type symptoms, such as flatulence, diarrhoea and constipation. And for people with sensitive digestion, the festive period can bring discomfort and anxiety.

How Christmas over-eating impacts gut health

Eating too much food puts extra pressure on our digestive system, as our body is required to produce additional stomach acid and digestive enzymes to break down the food into particles small enough to digest. This can overload our digestion and lead to fermentation of undigested food particles by our gut bacteria, which can cause bloating and other digestive issues.

Protein can be particularly difficult for many people to digest and the high amounts of meat, poultry, cheese and other protein we eat during the festive period can cause us to feel excessively full, bloated and sluggish.

Fat digestion can also be an issue for some, as healthy bile is required for fat digestion and the fatty foods we eat during the festive season can require high levels of bile to break them down.

And eating lots of sugar affects both our blood sugar and our digestion, as the pancreas produces both the insulin required for blood sugar balance and the enzymes required to digest our food – and can struggle to do both at the same time.

Stay hydrated

Eating too much and drinking alcohol may also reduce water intake, which can in turn worsen digestive symptoms and lead to dehydration and constipation.

And drinking alcohol impacts our liver’s ability to perform its many functions, including detoxifying sugar, medications and hormones, and the production of bile. Alcohol also impacts the balance of bacteria in our microbiome, and this can lead to bloating and other GI issues.

Gut-friendly food swaps

To help your gut survive this festive season, switch out some of the traditional ‘festive’ foods with the following ‘swaps’:

  • Eat all the vegetables on your plate first so you are not too full by the time you get around to eating them. If you leave anything, make it the potatoes, pigs in blankets or some of the meat.
  • Include lots of brightly coloured fruit in place of chocolates – tangerines are seasonal and contain lots of vitamin C, but don’t forget apples, pears, plums and other winter fruits.
  • Choose nuts over crisps – particularly shelled pistachios or monkey nuts that take time to ‘unwrap’ individually.
  • Pick the healthiest starter on the menu – vegetable soup (without bread) or salad are both a good choice.
  • Pass on pudding or choose fruit salad or a dessert that contains fruit (crumble, pie) and replace brandy butter and cream with half-fat crème fraiche.
  • Have herbal tea after dinner instead of coffee – mint tea can replace after-dinner mints and support digestion – or try ginger, fennel or camomile, which can all help soothe the gut.

And consider the following tips to provide further support for your digestion:

  • Drink lots of water to stay hydrated and spend some time outdoors away from the ‘dehydrating’ central heating.
  • Keep an eye on portion sizes and take breaks between eating – ideally four hours between meals and 12 hours overnight.
  • Find some time for activity and exercise – an after-dinner walk is ideal.
  • Don’t miss out on sleep – 7-8 hours of good quality sleep allows our bodies to digest and detoxify all the festive food and drink.
  • And take a friendly bacteria supplement with your meals to help support the balance of bacteria in your gut and reduce digestive issues. Introduce them daily now so you are well-prepared when the over-indulgence starts.

Support your gut health this Christmas with ProVen Biotics

ProVen Biotics With Digestive Enzymes is a complex product formulation that utilises ProVen’s proprietary manufacturing capabilities and contains both friendly bacteria and digestive enzymes, to provide targeted support for digestion at mealtimes when food is in the stomach. Take one capsule twice a day with meals for maximum support.